'I mean, that guy invented cricket! I couldn't believe it' -- du Preez on getting Sachin Tendulkar out on his IPL debut. ©AFP
Latest on The IPL Benchwarmers is Dillon du Preez, the medium pace bowling allrounder from South Africa who was with the Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2009 and 2010. He played two matches, and had to deal with Shane Warne's sledges in addition to advancing his own wedding.
You've sat in the dugout in three different cities watching your teammates play the first seven matches of the tournament. You're finally given a game. You bowl eight balls without anyone taking a run off you. By then you've claimed three wickets. Not just any wickets: Sachin Tendulkar, Ajinkya Rahane - with consecutive deliveries - and JP Duminy.
But you play only one more match in the competition. When it's all over you have bowled seven overs of a possible 64 - more than eight times fewer than the hardest working member of your team's attack - and faced 13 balls, or less than 4% of the number received by the busiest batter in your dressing room.
You have a right to feel hard done by, denied the chance you have earned to give of your best. You are